A Real Fine Place To Start
by samanddianefan10
Summary: Set after I do Adieu. When Diane finally returns to Sam after a six month absence, she has an unexpected surprise. How will Sam react?


It had been six months since Diane had walked out of the bar and out of Sam's life. He had missed her, and thought of her nearly every day of his life. He'd stopped counting the weeks until she'd returned; he long given up on her ever stepping foot in the bar called Cheers ever again. The phone calls had stopped, the letters, ever so sparse, had died down. She was not returning. He had healed. He had sold the house that was to be theirs for when they had wed. Nothing left to remind him of Diane, except the very place he walked into every day of his life. She was there. So much of her remained. She was at the walls, always straightening them up. She was at the bar, always sitting there in between breaks. She was at the door, always arriving fifteen minutes late for work, playing it ever so coy. Diane Chambers was everywhere he looked, and he couldn't, though he tried, forget her. And if he were honest with himself, he didn't really want to try that hard to.

He had tried banning her name from the bar, threatening to take a bat to whoever said her name. Whenever he went into his office he could hear her name mentioned, somehow it was always Cliff who said her name, and it was no fun going after him after the first ten times. There came to a point where he realized that even Carla could only do so much to prevent people from talking about Diane. Her presence had meant a lot to the people of Cheers, and so he would just have to hear tales of her. What he would not accept is pity. It was his decision to call off the wedding. He knew that it would be the last time he would ever see Diane. So why did people feel such sympathy for him? He hated that. Even when he brought out his black book and hooked up with several dames a week he would still get that look, the one of pity, and it would kill the date. In the end all he could think of Diane, and that drove him crazy. Was it possible that he was still in love with her? That's nuts, he thought. How can you love someone that lives in another part of the country- and who is obviously not in love with you. That Diane….he had to laugh….it was easy getting under her, it was getting over her that was the hard part.

Friends worried about Sam. He was still lively, and put on a good show. If they asked him how he was doing he would say just fine. But Frasier, Woody, Carla, Cliff and Norm knew better. The Sam they knew and loved had left alongside with Diane months ago. He still told a good joke, but often times he was the only one laughing at them. He was the first one there to help out a buddy, but more often than not he was the buddy in need of one himself. He had an angry streak that he refused to see. He became angry over the Red Sox, which before he could watch without getting worked up over. Something had triggered a fuse in Sam, and no one knew how to calm him. Actually they all knew what would calm him, but no one knew how to contact her. He was at his best when he was matching wits with his equal. Without her he was sailing solo, and not having a very good time. He was lost without his mate, and desperately seeking some direction. He'd begun to talk crazy, like sailing around the world and selling the bar. Frasier was trying to talk him out of it, but Sam seemed determined to follow through with his plan. Sam was lost without his mate, and determined to find himself all over again.

Then without warning, a cool wind breezed through Cheers, and that breeze was Diane Chambers. So much had changed about her. Her hair was much blonder than anyone had remembered, and had grown long. The most obvious and impossible to miss change in her was that Diane Chambers was seven months pregnant.

Sam couldn't believe it. The gang watched him for a reaction. Would he kill her? Would he get extra time for killing a pregnant woman, even if he had just cause? They would all turn their heads and vow they never saw a thing. If any woman had a justifiable homicide coming to her, it would be Diane Chambers.

Sam's eyes connected with Diane's. No one spoke, not even the rest of the bar.

Finally Diane started to speak. "I'm back. Isn't anything going to say anything?"

"Anything new?" Woody asked, while the rest of the gang glared at him. Carla smacked him on the head.

"You're here. And you're not alone, I see," Sam looked at her stomach.

"Your powers of deduction are as brilliant as ever," Diane remarked.

"And your sense of timing is as perfect as usual," Sam commented.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means….I had plans. I bought a boat. I was going to sell the bar and sail around the world. I had dreams too you know. And now you show up like this! You've known about this all this time and you couldn't be bothered to tell me! Don't you think I had a right to know?"

Diane looked around. "Sam," she whispered. "Let's go in your office."

Sam and Diane walked over there and he locked the door. This brought back so many memories of their greatest arguments held in this office.

"You're pregnant…with my child…it is my child?"

Diane nodded.

"And what am I supposed to do? Give up my dreams just because you walk back into my life? What do you want from me, Diane? What were you expecting?"

Diane began to cry.

"Don't do that," his voice softened and he pulled her close. "I can't stand it when you cry. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. You just surprised me, that's all. You're having my baby and I can't be yelling at you any more. Listen to me….you're having my baby! Well what do you know? We're going to be parents, Diane!" Now look at me." He lifted her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye.

"How do you feel about that?"

"Honestly?" Diane asked. "At first I was repulsed and then I felt something I never felt before- I fell in love with this little creature… I mean I've been in love before but this is so peaceful. I just wanted to experience total peace before telling you. I knew that if I told you you would probably freak out and we would fight and I didn't want to do that to the baby or to myself. I wanted to keep that feeling of peace. I didn't want to burden you with a child I didn't think that you would want…my child. I thought that I would just stay away and you would never need to know. But I have fallen in love with this child. And I want what's best for it. And that includes knowing how wonderful its daddy is."

"You mean that? You think I'm wonderful? You think I'll be a wonderful daddy?" Sam asked in amazement, not sure if he believed it but if Diane said that then it might be true. One thing he loved about her was that she saw things in him no one else did, and when she said them, he believed her.

"Sam, I think you're going to be a terrific father. I wouldn't be here if I didn't think so. I want you in my baby's life. And I want you in my life. I know I've made some mistakes. You've made some mistakes. But I've taken some time to really examine my life and examine us and I think we could work…I don't want to change you, although I would hope you are open for self-examination….sorry. You once asked me to call you if I can accept you on a day to day basis. Well I've thought about it. And I can. The question is, can you accept me for who I am?"

"The thing was, when I said that, there was no baby involved. So things are going to be different. I'm going to have to give more, be more. I want to be more for my kid. I want to be more for you, for us. I don't want my kid growing up and seeing me as a loser. I have to make some changes but that is what's going to be on a day to day basis. I can't make a lot of promises. But I do love you and our baby and I want to build a life with you. And I think that's a good place to start, don't you think?"

Diane smiled as she ran to embrace the love of her life. "That sounds like a real fine place to start."


End file.
